# IsDirectoryMonitoringEnabled()

> Reports whether Directory Monitoring is enabled.

## Definition

* **Type:** Method
* **Namespace:** [UnityEditor](/engine/6000.0/script-reference/unityeditor.md)
* **Assembly:** UnityEditor

```csharp
public static bool IsDirectoryMonitoringEnabled()
```

### Returns

| Type                                                          | Description                                                                 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [bool](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.boolean) | Returns true when Directory Monitoring is enabled. Returns false otherwise. |

### Remarks

Turn Directory Monitoring on or off in Preferences settings or in script with EditorPrefs.SetBool("DirectoryMonitoring", boolValue).

Directory Monitoring can be disabled with command line flag -DisableDirectoryMonitor and Directory Monitoring is automatically disabled when Unity detects symlinks in the project.

### Examples

```csharp
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEditor;
using UnityEngine.Profiling;
using System.IO;

public class DirectoryMonitoringTest
{
    [MenuItem("AssetDatabase/Directory Monitoring Test")]
    static void DirectoryMonitoringBenchmark()
    {
        var BenchmarkCount = 1;

        //Disabling the Directory Monitoring will use a brute force scanning method to evaluate which files in the project have been changed, and is much slower
        EditorPrefs.SetBool("DirectoryMonitoring", false);
        Debug.Log("Is Directory Monitoring Enabled? - " + AssetDatabase.IsDirectoryMonitoringEnabled());

        Benchmark(BenchmarkCount);
        BenchmarkCount++;

        EditorPrefs.SetBool("DirectoryMonitoring", true);
        Debug.Log("Is Directory Monitoring Enabled? - " + AssetDatabase.IsDirectoryMonitoringEnabled());
        Benchmark(BenchmarkCount);
    }

    //This test will show faster scan time when using Directory Monitoring
    static void Benchmark(int BenchmarkCount)
    {
        var relativePath = "Assets/test_file01.txt";
        if (!File.Exists(relativePath))
        {
            using (StreamWriter sw = File.CreateText(relativePath))
            {
                sw.WriteLine("Hello");
                sw.WriteLine("And");
                sw.WriteLine("Welcome");
            }
        }

        Profiler.BeginSample("Benchmark " + BenchmarkCount); ;
        AssetDatabase.ImportAsset(relativePath);
        Profiler.EndSample();

        AssetDatabase.DeleteAsset(relativePath);
        AssetDatabase.Refresh();
    }
}
```